She's beautiful, rich, and reckless...When Lady Constance Stonewell accidentally ruins the Earl of Apthorp's entire future with her gossip column, she does what any honorable young lady must: offer her hand in marriage. Or, at the very least, stage a whirlwind fake engagement to repair his reputation. Never mind that it means spending a month with the dullest man in England. Or the fact that he disapproves of everything she holds dear.He's supposedly the most boring politician in the House of Lords... Julian Haywood, the Earl of Apthorp, is on the cusp of finally proving himself to be the man he's always wanted to be when his future is destroyed in a single afternoon. When the woman he's secretly in love confesses she's at fault, it isn't just his life that is shattered: it's his heart.They have a month to clear his name and convince society they are madly in love...But when Constance discovers her faux-intended is decidedly more than meets the eye--not to mention adept at shocking forms of wickedness--she finds herself falling for him. There's only one problem: he can't forgive her for breaking his heart.
What a girl wants… Miss Viola Darling always gets what she wants. Always. And what she wants more than anything is to marry James Kilbrenner, the Earl of Tannenbrook. She’s fallen hard for the giant, taciturn, surly brute, and she positively will have no other. The problem? He’s not interested. Not even a little. But Viola cannot afford to lose. And she has her heart set on James. If only he will bend to a bit of persuasion. Is an earl like no other… James Kilbrenner knows how determined the entirely-too-beautiful Miss Darling can be—the daft woman cornered him at a perfectly respectable dinner and mangled his cravat before he could escape. He has no desire to marry, less desire to be pursued, and will certainly not kiss her kissable lips until they are both breathless, no matter how tempted he may be. And only the right one will do… Thrown in her path by a meddling marchioness, James finds himself under sensual siege from a tiny, flirtatious sprite who puts both his heart and his vow to remain unwed at risk. And when scandal looms, he learns the hard way that a man can resist only so long before the indomitable Miss Darling gets her way.
He’s controlled. Meticulous. Immaculate. No one would expect the proper Duke of Westmead to be a member of London’s most illicit secret club. Least of all: his future wife. Having overcome financial ruin and redeemed his family name to become the most legendary investor in London, the Duke of Westmead needs to secure his holdings by producing an heir. Which means he must find a wife who won’t discover his secret craving to spend his nights on his knees – or make demands on his long scarred-over heart. Poppy Cavendish is not that type of woman. An ambitious self-taught botanist designing the garden ballroom in which Westmead plans to woo a bride, Poppy has struggled against convention all her life to secure her hard-won independence. She wants the capital to expand her exotic nursery business – not a husband. But there is something so compelling about Westmead, with his starchy bearing and impossibly kind eyes -- that when an accidental scandal makes marriage to the duke the only means to save her nursery, Poppy worries she wants more than the title he is offering. The arrangement is meant to be just business. A greenhouse for an heir. But Poppy yearns to unravel her husband’s secrets – and to tempt the duke to risk his heart. "An astonishingly good debut...The whole book is a breath of fresh air, both a complex, layered story and a soaring romance with two very real people at its heart." -- The New York Times Book Review Author’s Note: Dear readers, please be aware this is an angsty, twisty book written in the style of a gothic romance, and there are some dark moments along the path to a happy ending for our characters. No spoilers here, but if you are a sensitive reader please do consult the reviews before diving in. Yours, Scarlett 2018 Romance Writers of America Golden Heart ® Winner for Best Historical Romance "Desert Isle Keeper...The alliance is unexpected, fascinating and a refreshing departure from typical Regency romances, and I never wanted The Duke I Tempted to end." -- All About Romance "Peckham’s meticulous character work pays off in spectacular, grandly romantic fashion and The Duke I Tempted ends with particularly cathartic and hard-won happily ever after." -- BookPage "Gothic romances are tempestuous by definition, but this one is dramatic even by those heightened standards...If you want something to speed your heart and stop your breath as you read beneath the covers, with only the meager flashlight beam warding off the enveloping night — then you have a rare treat in store." -- The Seattle Review of Books "A one-sitting, late-into-the-night read, The Duke I Tempted ran away with my heart." -- Book Ink Reviews
"Where have you been all my life, Kelly Bowen? If Julia Quinn, Sarah MacLean, and Lisa Kleypas were to extract their writing DNA, mix it in a blender, and have a love child, Kelly Bowen would be it." -- HeroesandHeartbreakers.com Earl. War hero. Notorious rake. After the Battle of Waterloo, Eli Dawes was presumed dead-and would have happily stayed that way. He's no longer the reckless young man he once was, and only half as pretty. All he wants is to hide away in his country home, where no one can see his scars. But when he tries to sneak into his old bedroom in the middle of the night, he's shocked to find someone already there. Rose Hayward remembers Eli as the arrogant lord who helped her late fiance betray her. Finding him stealing into her art studio doesn't correct her impression. Her only thought is to get him to leave immediately. Yet the tension between them is electric, and she can't help but be drawn to him. He might be back from the dead, but it's Rose who is suddenly feeling very, very much alive.
Lady Arabella Danvers is happy with her life just the way it is. She is free to be herself and take care of broken and abandoned animals. Her mother is desperate for her to marry, and has decided to take things into her own hands. There is just one little problem with her plan. Nash, the Earl of Clarendon has determined it is time to take a wife. He has selected a woman to whom he intends to propose. However, the annoying Lady Arabella has stumbled into his life at the wrong time, and in the wrong place. But he of all people should know if Lady Arabella is involved, plans will go awry. Each book in the Lords & Ladies in Love series is STANDALONE: * Seducing the Marquess * Marrying the Wrong Earl * Denying the Duke * Wagering For Miss Blake * Captivating the Earl
All Eris wants is a love match… Miss Eris Tumilson longs for a love match. Unfortunately, being a wallflower who spends most of her time reading and doing embroidery isn’t the kind of thing that attracts gentlemen. But, at long last, the spinster gets her chance. Her brother arranges a marriage for her with the Duke of Jowett. When her new husband dies on their wedding night, her hopes are dashed. There will be no love match. There’s not even the prospect of a child on the way. Though a widow, she might as well still be a spinster. Then Mr. Charles Duff comes along to visit her, and something begins to stir up within her that she was determined to put behind her once and for all: the desire for a love match. All Charles wants is to prove his friend was murdered… Charles would rather focus on his investments than take a wife. But when his friend dies on his wedding night, he knows it’s not from natural causes. His friend was murdered. And he’s sure Eris did it. The problem? He has to prove it since no one believes him. So he comes up with a plan to make Eris believe he’s fallen in love with her. Little does he realize that as soon as he steps through the doorway of her townhouse, he’ll start to discover that this shy wallflower is a hidden gem among ladies…and it’ll be difficult to tell the difference between pretending to be in love and really being in love. *Charles originally showed up in Kidnapping the Viscount. Eris originally showed up in The Reclusive Earl.
"Bateman's scintillating first Bow Street Bachelors Regency is full of intense emotions and dramatic twists. Intelligent, affable characters make this fast-paced novel shine, especially for fans of clever women and the men who sincerely admire them. Future installments will be eagerly anticipated by Regency readers." -- Publishers Weekly (Starred Review) Introducing the Bow Street Bachelors—men who work undercover for London’s first official police force—and the women they serve to protect. . .and wed? WILL A FALSE MARRIAGE Shipping heiress Georgiana Caversteed is done with men who covet her purse more than her person. Even worse than the ton’s lecherous fortune hunters, however, is the cruel cousin determined to force Georgie into marriage. If only she could find a way to be . . . widowed? Georgie hatches a madcap scheme to wed a condemned criminal before he’s set to be executed. All she has to do is find an eligible bachelor in prison to marry her, and she’ll be free. What could possibly go wrong? LEAD TO TRUE AND LASTING LOVE? Benedict William Henry Wylde, scapegrace second son of the late Earl of Morcott and well-known rake, is in Newgate prison undercover, working for Bow Street. Georgie doesn’t realize who he is when she marries him—and she most certainly never expects to bump into her very-much-alive, and very handsome, husband of convenience at a society gathering weeks later. Soon Wylde finds himself courting his own wife, hoping to win her heart since he already has her hand. But how can this seductive rogue convince brazen, beautiful Georgie that he wants to be together...until actual death do they part?
Miss Ada Quicksilver, a student of London’s Lovelace Academy for Promising Young Women, is spending her holiday in Ireland to pursue her anthropological study of fairies. She visits Dublin’s absinthe bars to investigate a supposed association between the bittersweet spirit and fairy sightings. One night a handsome Irishman approaches her, introducing himself as Edward Donoghue. Edward takes absinthe to relieve his sleepwalking, and she is eager to hear whether he has experience with fairies. Instead, she discovers that he’s the earl of Meath, and that he will soon visit a mysterious ruin at Newgrange on the orders of his cousin, the beautiful, half-mad Queen Isolde. On learning about Ada’s area of study, he invites her to accompany him. Ada is torn between a sensible fear of becoming entangled with the clearly troubled gentleman and her compelling desire to ease his suffering. Finally she accepts his invitation, and they arrive in time for the winter solstice. That night, the secret of Edward’s affliction is revealed: he is, in fact, a lord in two worlds and can no longer suppress his shadow self. Little does either of them realize that their blossoming friendship—and slowly kindling passion—will lead to discoveries that wrench open a door sealed for centuries, throwing them into a war that will change Ireland forever.
Behind the doors of the Clifford Charity School for Wayward Girls there lies a secret society of brilliant, fearless women who are bringing justice to London’s most corrupt aristocrats, one nobleman at a time . . . Other young ladies might occupy their spare time with drawing or needlework, but Sophia Monmouth spends hers scaling rooftops and shadowing suspicious characters. Her objective: to gain information that will free a friend wrongly accused of murder. She hasn’t bargained on being spotted and followed back to the Clifford School by a mysterious earl who holds almost as many secrets as she does. Tristan Stratford, Lord Gray, earned the nickname the Ghost of Bow Street because no man has ever escaped him. Sophia—all soft curves beneath her disguise—is a unique challenge. Determined to learn the truth about the Clifford School, he joins Sophia in a scheme that leads from Newgate’s cells to the pinnacle of power. But when desire is at odds with justice, succumbing to temptation may lead them both into the heart of danger . . . “Bradley expertly balances excitement, humor, and heat to create a rollicking romance headlined by a pair of irresistible protagonists. Readers will be eager to see what comes next.” —Publishers Weekly STARRED REVIEW
In the USA Today bestselling fifth installment of author Bree Wolf's emotionally charged 'Love's Second Chance Series', Sebastian must find a way to uncover Charlotte's secrets...before she walks out of his life forever. She was the victim of a heinous crime.Then, she sought revenge.He seeks to punish his fatherAnd finds more than he bargained for. Once LADY CHARLOTTE FRAMPTON had been a young debutante, hoping to find a husband who would win her heart. Then, one night shattered everything and turned her life into a nightmare and herself into a monster. Determined to leave her past behind, she buries Lady Charlotte and becomes Lotte, the temporary companion to a Viscount's younger sister.Everything seems to take a turn for the better until the Viscount's best friend visits and makes her an offer. SEBASTIAN CAMPBELL, future EARL OF WESTON, will never forgive himself. During his grand tour on the continent, his father, driven by the desire to increase the family's standing in society, forced Sebastian's younger sister, Victoria, into a miserable marriage that threatens not only her happiness but her life as well. Haunted by guilt, Sebastian seeks to punish his father wherever possible. So when he meets 'Lotte', she seems the answer to his prayers. Marriage to an unsuitable woman would put his father where he belonged: in an early grave. While Charlotte finds that her past is not as dead as she'd hoped, Sebastian realises that protecting his sister might be more important than punishing his father. Does love have any chance at all to blossom under these circumstances? Or is it the worst times in our lives that bring out the best in us? *Although certain characters appear in multiple books, 'Ruined & Redeemed - The Earl's Fallen Wife' can be read as a stand-alone. However, in order to avoid spoilers, I'd advise against reading book 5 before book 3. Love's Second Chance Series #1 Forgotten & Remembered - The Duke's Late Wife (Rosabel & Graham)#2 Cursed & Cherished - The Duke's Wilful Wife (Anna & Edmond)#3 Despised & Desired - The Marquess' Passionate Wife (Ellie & Frederick)#4 Abandoned & Protected - The Marquis' Tenacious Wife (Henrietta & Connor)#5 Ruined & Redeemed - The Earl's Fallen Wife (Charlotte & Sebastian)#6 Betrayed & Blessed - The Viscount's Shrewd Wife (Beth & Tristan)More to follow:#7 Deceived & Honoured - The Baron's Vexing Wife (Madeline & Derek) A Forbidden Love Novella Series #1 The Wrong Brother#2 A Brilliant Rose#3 The Forgotten Wife#4 An Unwelcome Proposal#5 Rules to Be BrokenMore to follow:#6 Hearts to Be Mended
